1. Left ventricular myocytes isolated from the heart of young (2-month-old) and old (18- to 20-month-old) spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were studied in the whole-cell configuration. Since multicellular preparations from old SHRs show a diastolic depolarization phase, we performed experiments to test whether it was associated with the presence of a hyperpolarization-activated If-like current. 2. In control Tyrode solution, a time-dependent increasing inward current activated by hyperpolarization was recorded in myocytes from old SHRs showing a diastolic depolarization phase. A barium-insensitive, caesium-sensitive, time-dependent inward current was recorded in a minority (4 of 33) of cells from young SHRs (membrane capacitance, 160 +/- 7 pF) but in 93% (25 of 27, P < 0.01) of myocytes from old SHRs (membrane capacitance, 355 +/- 19 pF, P < 0.01). 3. The current was fully activated at -120 mV and voltage of half-maximal activation was -88.1 +/- 1.5 mV; it was blocked by extracellular CsCl (4 mM) in a voltage-dependent manner. Reducing [K+]o from 25 to 5.4 mM caused a shift of the reversal potential from -17.3 +/- 3.8 to -25.7 +/- 2.7 mV and a 60% decrease of current conductance. 4. These findings suggest that an If-like current is present in rat ventricular myocytes from old SHRs, where it might favour the occurrence of spontaneous action potentials.

1. Left ventricular myocytes isolated from the heart of young (2-month-old) and old (18- to 20-month-old) spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were studied in the whole-cell configuration. Since multicellular preparations from old SHRs show a diastolic depolarization phase, we performed experiments to test whether it was associated with the presence of a hyperpolarization-activated If-like current. 2. In control Tyrode solution, a time-dependent increasing inward current activated by hyperpolarization was recorded in myocytes from old SHRs showing a diastolic depolarization phase. A barium-insensitive, caesium-sensitive, time-dependent inward current was recorded in a minority (4 of 33) of cells from young SHRs (membrane capacitance, 160 +/- 7 pF) but in 93% (25 of 27, P < 0.01) of myocytes from old SHRs (membrane capacitance, 355 +/- 19 pF, P < 0.01). 3. The current was fully activated at -120 mV and voltage of half-maximal activation was -88.1 +/- 1.5 mV; it was blocked by extracellular CsCl (4 mM) in a voltage-dependent manner. Reducing [K+]o from 25 to 5.4 mM caused a shift of the reversal potential from -17.3 +/- 3.8 to -25.7 +/- 2.7 mV and a 60% decrease of current conductance. 4. These findings suggest that an If-like current is present in rat ventricular myocytes from old SHRs, where it might favour the occurrence of spontaneous action potentials.